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Tuesday, February 7, 2017

PAS told to swallow its pride

An analyst says the Islamist party cannot defeat BN if it does not work with Pakatan.

PETALING JAYA: If PAS is serious about defeating BN in the next general election, it has to re-establish ties with DAP and Amanah and abandon its plan to strengthen Gagasan Sejahtara, says a political analyst.

Jeniri Amir, an associate professor at Universiti Malaya Sarawak, said current sentiments did not favour Gagasan, the informal coalition of PAS and Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia, which some have spoken of as an emerging third opposition bloc.

“PAS should listen to the sentiments of the majority and swallow its pride,” Jeniri told FMT.

Jeniri said the Islamist party must forgo egoistic interests because its plan to split the opposition would only backfire.

“It seems to me that PAS wants to win all, but there’s no such thing in politics,” he said. “If it really wants to change the future of the nation, it must collaborate with the other opposition parties.

“PAS must realise that it was successful in the 2008 polls not because of its own strength, but because of the strength of the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat.”

Jeniri also said it was unlikely that Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) and PKR would join Gagasan.

“The people prefer PKR and PPBM to work with DAP and Amanah,” he said. “The two parties will lose support if they were to abandon the other opposition parties and join PAS.”

Another political analyst, Khoo Kay Peng, said “complications” could arise if PKR and PBBM left Pakatan because Amanah was still a new party.

“Amanah’s bargaining power is not strong as it has not proven itself in elections,” he said.

He said it was conceivable that PPBM and PKR were considering Nik Amar’s suggestion in the belief that PAS would give them “a better chance of defeating Barisan Nasional”.

Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the opposition parties should learn from their crushing defeat in the recent Sarawak state election, where three-cornered fights cost them nearly half of the seats they held before.

“The people are getting sick of the constant fights between opposition parties,” he said. -FMT